


Home for Dia

by NoNeedToBePerfect (DiasPenguin)



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Living Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-21 16:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15561384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiasPenguin/pseuds/NoNeedToBePerfect
Summary: Dia and Kanan are both adults who share an apartment together, and they are dating.Dia is struggling to keep up at her new workplace. Kanan comes home earlier than Dia expected, and she's hoping to make Dia feel warm inside.





	Home for Dia

Dia was tired and frusterated. She had finished a full day of work plus overtime to finish her assignments and was reaching home after the sky had turned dark. It was not her first day working so much, but it was nearing the end of the week and she was feeling the lack of sleep catch up to her.

The worst part was that she seemed to be the only one struggling with her workload. Something was just not clicking right between her and her assignments, and she had yet to figure out what. The other workers must think of her as a slacker, or worse an unprepared hire. Not that she could blame them, they were all managing to complete their assignments without overtime. Dia can't help but look inferior.

She may need to start drinking coffee. Dia hated coffee; tea was much sweeter and easier to drink. Undoubtedly the difference between her and her peers was more than just caffeine, but for now it was the easiest way to maintain her focus. If she worked hard, maybe she could train herself to not need the energy drink.

Grumbling to herself, Dia reached her apartment door. Once she puts the key in the door, Dia realizes the door is unlocked and opens easily. 

Dia could immediately think of several reasons why the door iss unlocked, but she was too tired to work through any of them and instead pushed herself inside. Robbery thoughts were lost on entry. Not only did the apartment look the same as it did when she left it this morning, but through the living room she could clearly see the back of a girl with a blue ponytail working in her kitchen. 

Not her kitchen, their kitchen. While Dia's parents were kind enough to pay full rent for the apartment, Kanan had lived and helped here enough to make this place her home as much as Dia. Kanan and Dia had a way of helping each other that made living together quite simple. Moving in with a girlfriend should not be this easy, but Kanan had always been considerate of Dia. They would both be paying the bills soon enough.

Without turning around, Kanan speaks first. "Hey Dia, what's up?"

"Good evening Kanan. It's good to see you home early."

"When did you expect? What are you doing coming back so late? I was waiting you know."

Dia was about to respond, until it occurred to her Kanan should have a truck full of boxes from her home in Uchiura. She must have parked the car, but were the boxes still in there? Was there anything important to take out? No, surely Kanan had taken care of it, and if she didn't Dia really didn't have the energy to help her unpack.

Taking her silence into stride, Kanan continued, “I had time to move all my stuff in you know. I even had time to get groceries. Also, pudding if you want some."

Dia cursed herself. Kanan must be exhausted after travelling so much, she should not have to work so hard for Dia's sake. Of course, Dia had no way of knowing Kanan would come home early, but she should have gotten groceries before Kanan’s planned arrival tomorrow.

Not that Kanan needed to know that. "I'm fine. What are you making?"

Dia made a move to try and help in the kitchen, only to find herself pushed back by her much stronger friend.

"Wait, don't come in!"

"Eh? Kanan let me help."

"You've had a long day at work, right? I’ll make you a special dinner! Let me surprise you! Just this once."

Kanan wanted to surprise her? How?

"Kanan, i can see all the ingredients from here."

"Just leave it to me. Please?"

"Kanan you're being silly."

This was true; Kanan was making something with onions and rice and meat. It didn't take a genius to work out Kanan was working on some sort of curry and rice. However, it would be rude (and a bit awkward) to reject Kanan's favor and force herself into the kitchen. 

Accepting her faith, Dia moved back into the living room. She fell onto the couch, and all at once the day's fatigue hit her. It shouldn't be surprising, she had pushed herself at work today. This was all she wanted to do when she got back, and Dia was thankful. She stretched both hands outward, enjoying the feel of her muscles tensing and relaxing.

Dia observed Kanan. Though she must have had a very busy day, she moved about with a lot enthusiasm. Did she learn something new from home? Did she have a nap? Perhaps this dinner was going to be more than the simple curry dish Dia was expecting.

The more Dia thought about Kanan, the stronger her feelings felt. Kanan was the first romantic relationship she had ever entered in, and statistically it was unlikely that people stayed together with their first love. Perhaps this was her naivety speaking, but she couldn't picture herself with someone other than Kanan. Kanan was thoughtful, hardworking, smart, and kind to an aggressive degree. Honestly Dia felt inadequate, but Kanan knew Dia as well as Dia knew Kanan. There was no questioning Kanan's love, after all she was making dinner for them. 

"Did you get everything you wanted?" Dia asked, both trying to make small talk and think about how to pay Kanan back for all this.

"I think so. There's a lot of stuff still at home but i got all of my essentials."

"How was home?" 

"Great! Had a talk with my family, really opened my eyes to some stuff."

"That sounds good. Did something happen?"

"I'll tell you in a bit. Did you stay overtime yesterday?"

"I did. This job wasn't easy to get, I’ll be damned if I let it get the best of me yet."

"So i take it work is going well then."

Dia said, “Of course."

The words of confirmation were out of Dia's mouth before she had thought about them. Maybe she could take them back? Truthfully, she would have loved to complain to Kanan about her difficulties at work. Kanan would likely make fun of her situation, but her advice and opinions were usually good-natured. 

This wasnt serious problem though. Dia could tell her another day, the mood in the apartment tonight was too good to mess with.

So instead she said, “I want this job to go well. I'm sorry I didn't have time to get food."

"Hehe, showing weakness already Dia? We've only just moved in together."

"You came home early."

"Eh? No, I said I would be home on the 10th."

"No, you told me you would be home tomorrow."

"Dia didn't you write a note on when i would be back?"

"Of course I did!" Dia's voice was higher than it needed to be, but she was certain she was not wrong. She was probably too tired for this. Dia distinctly remembered when Kanan told her the day Kanan was coming back, she ran to get her phone to make a note on her calendar. After all, the faster she made the note the faster she wouldn't have to worry about it.

Pulling out her phone, she could see that indeed her calendar had a little green note on tomorrow reading "Kanan returns." Really, she shouldn't have doubted herself. She had made the note as soon as Kanan gave her the date. In fact, she checked the note yesterday, and hadn't she also checked it this morning? Dia jumped off the couch.

"I absolutely have the note and it says you would come back tomorrow." Dia gave Kanan a big smirk, holding up her phone for the blue haired girl to see.

Kanan turned away the food on the stove to read the note. She smirked back, “Kanan returns?' on Saturday. Yep you did write it down, but I think you wrote it down wrong."

"And why was that?"

Kanan turned her back to Dia, both hiding her expression from Dia and letting her reach the food. She said, “I planned to come back today so we could have the weekend together. I could take the weekend to get my stuff unpacked."

"Well then you must have told me the wrong date, because I wrote down this note as soon as you told me the date."

"Maybe." Kanan turned her head to look at Dia. "Don't glare at me so hard when I’m making food for you. If I made a mistake I made a mistake. I’m sorry."

The apology had no emotion in it. Kanan clearly didn't think she made a mistake but pushing her more wouldn't do anything. Besides, Dia was grateful to not have to cook today. She went back to the couch to relax.

They didn't talk anymore until Kanan had finished her surprise dinner. As Dia expected, it was a simple curry dish with rice.

When they sat at the table, Dia couldn't help but noticed Kanan only took out one plate of food and that plate was in front of her. Not only that, but Kanan was looking at her intensely.

"Are you not going to eat?" Dia asked.

"I will, just try it first."

Dia was feeling much better now that she rested, and now she couldn't help but notice how eager Kanan was. Kanan was always helping Dia of course, but she was never this enthusiastic or impatient about it. Today Kanan radiated a confident energy that came when one had just earned a raise. Or maybe won a swimming competition. That seemed more fitting for Kanan.

Dia took a big spoon of rice and curry and chomped down on it. All of Dia's goodwill vanished. 

The food was hot, and had some ridiculous spices added to it. Dia grunted in surprised but managed to swallow the food down. The initial spice was manageable, but Dia could feel it heating up inside of her. She also didn't have the foresight to get herself a glass of water, and in the back of her mind Dia noted Kanan hadn't gotten her one either.

She dashed off her seat to the fridge to pour herself a glass of water. Then another. Then a third glass. She could still feel the heat sitting uncomfortably in her mouth, and while the water did nothing more than provide temporary comfort. Otherwise it was absolutely burning. She tried letting the water stay in her mouth and moved the water around her mouth hoping to cool it down.

While Dia was feeling death at one of her most sensitive body parts, Kanan was lightly chuckling at her expense. How dare she! Who pranks their girlfriend by forcing overly spicy food on them? Dia vowed to herself to never take a big bite of anything Kanan made. Ever. If she complained that was Kanan's problem.

Once Dia's mouth finally cooled, Kanan took out two more plates of food. She had showed Dia the spicy peppers she had used and promised it had only been used on one plate of food. The food with the spice had to be thrown away, wasting the food to Dia's dismay. Kanan herself wasn't a fan of the spice, and while Dia was tempted to force Kanan to taste her own medicine, she also just wanted the hell-inducing plate cleaned least she take another bite by accident. It wasn't like they couldn't afford to waste food, but it wasn't a good habit to be having.

Now Dia found herself eating a real plate of food and staring down Kanan who was much to smiley for her liking. 

"So, I guess you want to ask why I did that?" Kanan said. Dia most certainly wanted to know, but rather than reply Dia kept shoveling food in her mouth. It was rude, but Kanan didn't need a reply from her. Dia's mood was her fault anyways.

“When I went home, I thought about how much time we spent together. My family kept going on about me being alone with you, making jokes and stuff. They gave me relationship advice too, but mostly it was just jokes. It made me think, even though I’ve spent so much time with you, there was a lot of time I’d spend in the day without you. Even when I was there, I did my daily runs and did some work every day. All the stuff I do normally. Stuff I’ve always done normally for years. Even though you weren’t there, every day came and went just as it always did. It’s kindof dumb, but I hate that. I never realized how stuck in my routine I was.”

Dia kept her eyes on the plate. This may be cruel, but Dia wasnt expecting a serious explanation. Maybe this was a joke? This sounded much too romantic for someone like Kanan, so Dia was expecting a twist to come. Instead, Dia felt Kanan’s arm wrap around her in a hug from behind.

“It’s all changing now. We’re going to be together, every day. Do you remember the first day we stayed here together? You said I had a way of working that made you comfortable. I thought, what a weird compliment. I made you comfortable? But then I went home, and I remembered how demanding you used to be. Remember how much you yelled in Aqours. That’s no good at all.” Kanan chuckled, still holding onto a Dia who was feeling more and more embarrassed. Was this going where she thought it was? Did she want what she thought it was? Dia loved reading romantic speeches, but actually receiving one was another monster altogether.

“You’re a lot more accepting now Dia.” Kanan said,” And I appreciate that. I’m probably not the perfect girlfriend, but I’m going to try to be what you want. I’ll be the girlfriend you’re comfortable around. I want to make this house warm and cozy. Not warm in the way of upsetting you with peppers to the point where you won’t look me in the eye during my big moment,” Kanan squeezed Dia harder in the hug,” but in the way where you can always count on me to help you out. Is that ok with you, Dia?”

For a moment she stayed still. Dia’s anger from the incident earlier had not yet subsided, but it was stubbornly fighting against a much warmer lovey feeling. She did love Kanan, she wouldn’t have moved in with the swimmer if she didn’t. Could she say that though? There was a certain level of recklessness to saying you love someone, as if you were throwing standard speaking convention out the window. On a whim no less?

While Dia was still thinking, Kanan let go and moved around to see her face. She said,” If it helps, I did bring you some pudding from home.”

The serious girl couldn't hold her glare. If Kanan was willing to say this stuff then so should she, Dia reasoned.

“I appreciate it Kanan. I’d like to be comfortable around you. I hope to be someone comfortable for you too.” Dia said. Everything she said was reasonable, but it wasn’t the important part. Dia knew she had one more thing to say. It was only three words; it wasn’t the hardest thing she had to do today.

“I love you.”

Done. Dia felt accomplished. She said what she wanted to say and met Kanan's romantic tone.

The girl in question gave Dia a brilliant smile, and replied,” I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfic I've posted in about 10 years, and my first fanfic on this site. It's fun to write again; I'm hoping to do more Love Live pairs. Dunno if this is any good, so I'd appreciate comments!


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